In the field of packaging, the use of plastic film to wrap palletized loads is well known in the art. Various assemblies and methods have been previously devised to dispense a plastic film from a film roll and place the film around the load. Doing so adds to the overall strength to the binding of the load and allows the load to be impervious to outside environmental conditions, including moisture, dirt, and the like.
By way of one particular application, which application is not a limitation of the present invention, it is also well known in the cheese making arts that a cheese box can be assembled manually by an operator for use in the cheese-making process. This type of cheese box is typically comprised of four like-sized and wax-coated, wooden panels that connect with one another at the corners by way of interlocking and/or dove tail tabs. Angle iron pieces, disposed vertically at the box corners, are used for added support of the box. In this process, the operator affixes four such freshly-painted and wax-coated angle iron pieces to each corner of the box. The operator then wraps the four wooden panels of the box, together with the angle iron pieces, with metal banding in several locations to hold the box together. After this portion of the box is assembled and is filled with a semi-liquid cheese, a bottom and spring-loaded top are similarly banded to the box and the contents are compressed under pressure to extract moisture from the semi-liquid cheese. The box is then put into storage for the cheese aging process, which varies depending upon the type of cheese that is being made. After the cheese aging process is completed, the box is disassembled to remove the aged cheese and the four wooden panels and four angle iron corners are returned to a facility where the wooden panels and angle irons are recycled. Specifically, the wooden panels are stripped and recoated with fresh wax and the angle irons are similarly stripped, repainted and re-waxed.
In the art of box wrapping, it would be desirable to provide a new and useful box wrapping assembly and method whereby the use of metal banding can be eliminated and the use of angle iron corners can be eliminated as well. In the specific application mentioned above, an additional concern is that paint can chip away from the angle iron corners and contaminate the bulk cheese product. Elimination of the angle iron corners eliminates this type of product contamination. Additionally, it would desirable that the metal banding be replaced by roped plastic film wrap that can be positioned about the box such that a sufficient amount of moisture is allowed to flow out of the box, another particular concern in the cheese making industry for reasons mentioned above. It would also be desirable to provide such an assembly and method whereby the leading edge of the roped plastic film wrap can be quickly and easily anchored to a member at which point the box wrapping method would be initiated by an operator. It would also be desirable to provide a mechanism for allowing the trailing edge of the roped plastic film wrap to be cut and easily inserted under another portion of the roped plastic film wrap such that the trailing edge is adequately captured and held in place to complete the wrapping process.